Johnstown eager, but anxious, over Intel plant impact ...Middle East

JOHNSTOWN, Ohio (WCMH) -- Despite numerous delays in the Intel semiconductor plant in Licking County, most local leaders said they're confident the facility will eventually open. 

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, along with many of his peers around central Ohio, share the sentiment that the plant will eventually open, even if Intel is not the company running the plant; but the delays and uncertainty are leading to deep concerns for the people who live in the communities closest to the 1,000 acres under development. 

Johnstown, with a population of roughly 5,000 residents, has a complicated relationship with the development. 

Johnstown City Council President Tiffany Hollis grew up in a house that stood on the land where Intel is now building its plant. 

"There's a lack of confidence because we're living it every single day,” Hollis said. “We never are away from it."

"Intel is a mile from here, it's basically in our backyard,” Johnstown Mayor Donny Barnard said. "For our residents here in Johnstown, they've been used to one way of life and that is changing, so they're uncertain about what this growth is going to bring."

While Johnstown sits one mile from the plant, the tax money expected to flow from the factories will take a divided path.

"They're in the Johnstown Monroe School District, so they will be paying taxes to the, to the school district that resides here in Johnstown, but they are in the city of New Albany, so their loyalty is the city of New Albany,” Barnard says. "It is very, very frustrating that they're that close, and I feel like the government's forgotten about us."

An example of the unique tax challenges for Johnstown is a new mixed-use property the city has invested in across from the plant on Green Chapel Road. That development will feature 1,000 apartments and businesses. Businesses that operate in that development would pay into Johnstown's tax system, but across the street at Intel, the company will pay into New Albany. 

Also of concern is the increasing industrial traffic around the town. Dump truck after dump truck travel the roads on a daily basis.

"Our entire life is impacted all the time,” Hollis said.

"Our roads here in Johnstown are deteriorated, but we can't get an income tax passed because of all the other taxes that our residents face,” Barnard said. "Intel could be a very good thing. They (the state) put it here, but with no backdrop to help us."

Ohio Rep. Kevin Miller, who represents Licking County and Johnstown, said he understands his constituents' concerns.

"Sometimes the communities around there feel like it was kind of dropped in their lap,” Miller said.

In 2023, the state announced a $90 million investment in road construction and maintenance, with much of that in support of the connecting roads around the plant. Some of that work is now underway.

"Tens of millions of dollars were directed in that area and that was a direct result of hearing from the commissioners,” Miller said. "Johnstown wants to keep that close-knit community feel and they can do that despite what's taking place around them, but it's all in the planning, and I'm committed to helping them in whatever way I can from my office." 

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